42 minutes and 15 seconds
by GoldenGirl
Summary: Sarah and Chuck move in together out of convenience. This is a Chuck/Sarah story about what happens next
1. Chapter 1

Title: 42 minutes and 15 seconds

Pairing: Chuck/Sarah

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Don't sue.

Spoilers: Takes place after season 1.

Summary: Chuck and Sarah move in together. Cuz it's convenient.

--

_Chuck: Look, if it's cool with you could you hang out for a little while? Look Awesome and Ellie think that I'm kind of getting lucky in here and I wouldn't want to disappoint...them._

_Sarah: Oh_, _um, how long do you want me to stay?_

_Chuck: 42 minutes and 15 seconds?_

--

Chuck stood before his Dune poster, reluctantly reaching for one of the corners but stopping midway instead, letting his fingers gently caress it. He bent his head and the tip of his nose touched the glossy paper in what could only be described as an eskimo kiss. "I'll never forget you," he whispered.

Behind him Sarah rolled her eyes. "This is getting creepy."

Chuck turned around, incredulous. "Creepy? _Creepy?_ This is a limited edition poster that I won from Alf Mackenzie in a poker game at my Sci-fi and Anime club in college so you'll have to excuse me if I have an unhealthy emotional attachment to it. The least you could do is give us a moment before you make me take it down."

"I'm not _making _you take it down," she said. "I'm merely suggesting that Awesome and Ellie might have a hard time believing that any woman in her right mind would live in a room decorated with pictures of sand worms. And if they come to visit we have to make it looks like I'm living here too."

"You aren't even sleeping in my room," he muttered.

"We have to maintain the cover, Chuck."

"Fine. But you'd understand if you met Alf Mackenzie."

The move was Awesome's idea, naturally. For one reason or another he was always the firm hand that pushed Chuck and Sarah into the next stages of their relationship. It was because of what he said at the sushi place that Sarah and Chuck had decided to "make love." And one night over barbeque a very similar conversation took place.

"But come on, the apartment's much too big for just one person, Chuck."

Chuck gradually stopped chewing on his hotdog as he realized where Awesome was going with this. "So you think I should get a one bedroom?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Course not!" Awesome exclaimed, booming voice as confident as ever. "I think you and Sarah should move in together!" Chuck nearly spit out his mouthful when Awesome slapped him on the back and smiled, as if he'd just announce some happy news rather than made an ill-received suggestion.

"Devon!" Ellie said.

"What?" he responded nonchalantly. "Chuck, you know I'm a big fan of cohabitation."

"I think this is a decision Chuck and Sarah need to make for themselves, Honey."

The couple in question shared a look across the table. Sarah, smiling nervously, looked as if she was trying to think of what to say. Chuck finally swallowed. "We've only been goi–"

"You two spend every waking moment together s'far as I can tell," Awesome interjected. "Are you really gonna let your girlfriend keep living out of a hotel, Chuckles? If your relationship's not moving forward it's just standing still. Think about that," he nodded solemnly.

So over the next few days they did think about it. And while Chuck was preparing himself for her negative reaction to it, Sarah surprised him by agreeing with Awesome.

"So you want to move in?"

"It's the best possible situation for us."

"It is?"

"Yeah. I mean, if we're living together I can better protect the intersect and our cover."

"Right. Intersect. Cover."

Sarah smiled. "Don't worry, I'll stay in Awesome and Ellie's old room and you can keep your room as if nothing's changed. Pretend I'm not even there."

"I was actually thinking of playing Guitar Hero in the nude tonight..."

"Okay, slight adjustments may have to be made."

They hit their first snag the night Sarah moved in. She was just entering her new bedroom when she heard a noise at the window. Turning on the lights she found Morgan straddling the windowsill mid breaking and entering.

"Morgan?"

"Sarah!" he yelped, so startled that he fell the rest of the way in.

"What are you doing here?"

"Ok, please don't get mad, Sarah. I was just feeling kinda nostalgic about this room. Ellie's been living in here for like _years _which means I have memories of this room for that long. That closet over there? I hid in it. Several times. And under the bed? Yeah, I hid there too. It's not that easy to break the spell, Sarah. And now Ellie's gone and I've got a lot of mixed emotions going on that are just starting to come to the surface and ever since the wedding it's been a _really hard time for me._"

Sarah could hardly stand to hear his voice breaking. "Are you going to cry, Morgan? Please don't cry."

"I'm not crying, it's just–" he grabbed a handful of the curtains, brought them to his face, and sniffed. "You kept her old curtains. Sweet. Hey, what are you doing in here?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Aren't you supposed to be having rip-roaring sex with Chuck right now? That's kinda what he told everyone at work would be happening."

"He said that?"

"Well he said you were moving in today so technically it was implied. Either way, just so you know, I wasn't going to disturb you guys or anything. Did you two have a fight? I don't mind if you sleep in Ellie's bed but I gotta warn you; I'm a kicker."

Chuck sat up and smiled. He checked his popcorn: full bucket, lightly buttered. Both controls were on his right at perfect grabbing distance. The lights in his room were dimmed just the way he liked them, and the TV screen was just starting to flash with the studio logos. He had a special rule where he didn't touch the popcorn until the opening titles began but he did allow himself to start on his Dr. Pepper which allowed just enough time for the–

"Look who came to visit, Sweetie!"

Chuck turned his head to find Sarah and Morgan at his door. "Morgan? What the–"

"Hey! What are you watching?"

As Morgan made his way to the TV stand to look for the DVD rental case Sarah sat beside Chuck on his bed. "I would've knocked but I don't think live-in girlfriends are supposed to."

"Dude, I really want to see this movie! Angelina's Jolie's voice just really does it for me. "

"Morgan what are you doing here?" Chuck whined. "You can't just show up in the middle of the night."

"Uh, I can, and I did. If you really wanted to keep me out you would've locked the windows, buddy."

Chuck scowled, giving Sarah an apologetic look. "I'll take care of it."

Five minutes later Chuck was back in his room.

"That was quick," Sarah said, standing from his bed. "I thought you would've given him a ride home. It's kind of too late for him to be out there on his bike, isn't it?"

"It is," Chuck agreed, avoiding making eye contact with her as he circled his bed. "Which is why I said it was ok if he stayed the night."

Before she could even think of protesting he rattled off a laundry list of reasons why this was the only viable option they had. "It's too late to drive him home and I was just about to watch my movie." It was a short laundry list.

Sarah smiled through tight lips and nodded. "It's ok," she said. "I guess we should get used to late night visits from Morgan." She got into the side of Chuck's bed that she'd occupied for their first pretend sleep over. And although she'd spent little time in the bed it felt pleasantly familiar. Except for the remote controls digging into her side. She handed them to Chuck.

"Thanks! Popcorn?" he offered.

"I have work tomorrow, Chuck."

"You don't mind if I watch do you? I'll keep the volume low."

Sarah didn't mind. She'd been trained to ignore all sorts of peripheral distractions. The only thing that was keeping her from falling into a peaceful sleep was the way Chuck's side of the bed shook every few moments when he laughed. It was made even worse by the fact that he was trying to suppress it, for her benefit she was sure.

She turned to look at him. He was oblivious, munching on a handful of popcorn, a delighted expression on his face. She raised her head and looked at the TV trying to understand what was so funny. She didn't usually go for these types of movies but as she continued to watch she found that she was starting to get sucked into the storyline. She went from lying on her elbow to finally sitting back on the headboard, the way Chuck was, accepting the box bucket of popcorn he passed to her.

"Who are they supposed to be fighting?" she asked.

"Shhhhh!" he snapped.

"Well sorry! Their martial arts don't look very authentic."

"It's _Kung Fu Panda_."

"Still."

He had to smile.

--

TBC!


	2. Chapter 2

He'd searched all the cabinets and now Chuck rummaged through the refrigerator, futilely pushing back all of it's contents in search of the one ingredient that would make his peanut butter sandwich complete.

"Sarah!" he called. "Have you seen the peanut butter?!"

Sarah was in the bathroom taking a shower but by the sound of it (because Chuck had been listening closely) she was done.

"Did you check by the couch!?"

Chuck peered over the open refrigerator door, past the heap of dishes mounted on the counter, the clothes draping the dining room chairs, and the pantyhose that inexplicably hung from the standing lamp. There it was: an open jar of JIF on the end table beside the couch.

"Of course it's by the couch," he muttered to himself. "Should've been the first place I looked."

He traversed through the mess in the livingroom and snatched the jar just as he caught a glimpse of Sarah crossing the hall from the bathroom into his bedroom in a towel. After years of living in the apartment the short distance between those two rooms was suddenly infuriating. A "glimpse" of Sarah in a towel was enough to entice and ridicule him at the same time. A dangling carrot. It was unfair.

He yanked the pantyhose off the lamp and went back to the kitchen to make his sandwich.

"Found it?" Sarah asked, drying off her hair as she walked into the livingroom.

"Yeah, it was by the couch like you said."

Chuck watched her grab the can of fish food off the book shelf and lightly tap it over the dollar store fish bowl. Something she did every night around the time she showered. The towel she'd been wearing a few moments ago was now replaced with a sweatshirt and pajama bottoms. Completely unfair.

"How's Shark doing?"

Sarah put down the fish food and looked at Chuck quizzically, walking back to sit across from him on one of the stools.

"Shark?"

"I was thinking about it and he should have a name."

"It's just a goldfish, Chuck."

"A goldfish you insisted on bringing here to live with us. Frankly I'm surprised you haven't named him already. I mean, I know a goldfish's not much of a pet if you're over 8 years old but he's still your pet nonetheless."

She sighed. "Fine, name him Shark. But if he develops a complex you'll only have yourself to blame."

Chuck nodded, smiling.

"Are those my tights?"

He followed Sarah's gaze to his hand which was still holding onto her pantyhose. "What, this?" he asked, the pitch in his voice raised just a little. "Yeah," he said dumbly. "They were, uh, just sorta hanging out there. And I took 'em. To give to you."

A short pause filled the room before he handed them to her.

Sarah discarded them on the counter and took the jar of peanut butter just as Chuck finished spreading the stuff on his two slices of bread. "So Sarah," he began tentatively, "About tomorrow..."

"Don't worry about dinner, I'm making my special fettuccini alfredo."

"Great! That sounds delicious, but hey, why don't we all just go out for dinner? Staying at home is for old, boring people. We wouldn't want to make the Captain and Ellie feel old and boring, right?" He feebly tried to make the suggestion sound exciting but by the look on Sarah's face it wasn't working.

"Why don't you want to stay in?"

"Oh no reason. It's just that this morning when I was walking past that pile over there I thought we'd gotten a new ottoman. Made of jeans."

Sarah smiled sheepishly as she licked a glob of peanut butter off her spoon. "I'm sorry, I know I can be a bit messy."

"Just a bit. Can't say I was expecting that from you, though. Your hotel room was always immaculate."

"House keeping."

"I can't believe I never once thought of that."

"I'm just so used to moving around," Sarah explained. "Plus, the field agent lifestyle doesn't exactly afford one much time to keep things tidy."

Chuck watched the field agent scrape her spoon along the inside walls of the nearly empty jar. "Right," he said. "Crazy hectic spy life."

"You just make sure Ellie and Awesome get here. I'll take care of the rest."

Sarah put the jar back on the counter and stood up.

"You going? I was just about to watch a movie. You could join me if you want."

"No thanks."

"You sure? I can find some more peanut butter, maybe."

"Goodnight Chuck."

He watched her go back into the hall from whence she came.

--

Chuck stood between them and the front door, his key out and positioned right in front of the keyhole but he just couldn't do it. He spun around instead. "I just want to warn you guys."

"Warn us about what?" Ellie asked cautiously.

"The place might not look as you remember it."

"Course it won't, Little Bro," Awesome said, squeezing Chuck's shoulder. "We don't live here anymore."

"You're starting to act weird," Ellie said.

Chuck laughed nervously and turned back around. He opened the door and stepped aside, letting Awesome and Ellie walk in before him.

"Looks pretty much the same, Chuckles," Awesome called from inside. Chuck furrowed his brow and followed them in, surprised to find the place spotless. And even more surprised to see Sarah donning a frilly "kiss the cook" apron.

"Don't mind if I do," Awesome said, kissing Sarah on the cheek.

A satisfied smile spread across Chuck's face as he looked around the house as if for the first time. Sarah embraced Ellie and accepted her bottle of wine and compliments about how great everything looked. Sarah left them for a moment to walk over to Chuck who was still standing by the door.

"Welcome home, Honey."

"Thank you, _Honey_!" Chuck said, trying to make the "Honey" sound natural even though calling Sarah anything but Sarah always made him feel a little ridiculous.

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "How did you...?"

"CIA cleaning crew. I had them sweep for bugs," she said, winking.

Dinner had been great, even greater when Sarah explained that she got the recipe from her grandma. He couldn't know if that was true or not but he liked to believe it was. But the tricky part of the evening was not the dinner itself. It was, and was always going to be, the after-dinner time. The part of the evening when Awesome and Ellie kicked their shoes off and lounged on each other, tired from the meal and the wine. And since Chuck and Sarah were also a totally-in-love-for-real couple they were expected to mimic their actions. The tricky part was making it believable.

By now Chuck was used to the lounging. He sat at one end of the couch and Sarah would sort of snuggle up next to him. He was used to the feeling of her shoulders, her back, her head, resting on any given part of his body. At the moment her head lay right under his chin. With every intake of breath he got a whiff of her shampoo. It was kind of making him feel a little high. He stopped smiling like a doof as soon he realized he was and instead took up playing with her hair (as Sarah had once instructed him, he was to either play with her hair or rub his palm over her shoulder).

"The waves in Hawaii are so awesome," Awesome was saying. "You should've seen your sister, Chuck, I didn't know Ellie could surf like that."

Chuck mentally checked off another pro in the Sarah chart in his brain. She had the perfect hair. It felt soft and thick all at once. And it was so shiny. It was probably the shiniest hair he'd ever seen. It was like he was staring right into the sun. Like the sun was her head and the rays were her hair. Like the–

"Chuck?"

"Yeah!" Chuck said, his head springing up. "Denmark is totally cold this time of year!"

Sarah lifted her head and looked at Chuck curiously.

"Sure," Awesome said. "But I was talking ab–"

"Devon can you help me with something in the kitchen?" Ellie interjected. She shot Chuck an amused, knowing look and dragged Awesome out of his chair.

Sarah sat up and watched them go. "What just happened?"

"I think my sister wants us to be alone."

"Why?"

"I think she caught me... looking at your hair."

"So?"

"I don't know! Ellie's just got it in her head that I am a huge anti-PDA person because that's the excuse I've had to make. For us. Cuz she's never seen us... kissing... or anything," he whispered.

"And you were looking at my hair like you wanted to kiss it?"

"I guess? I'm sorry! It's just so soft and shiny."

Sarah snuck a look at the kitchen and her eyes darted back to Chuck just as quickly. "They're watching us," she whispered.

"Really? Cuz I thought they were just making big clattering noises with the dishes _pretending_ they weren't watching us."

Sarah angled her arm on the top of the couch and rested her head on her hand, looking at Chuck. She bit her bottom lip, thinking. The way she was looking at him was making him feel more than a little self-conscious.

"Ok," she said.

"Ok? Ok what?" he asked. "Is there a plan of some sort?... What are you doing?"

Sarah's fingers had found their way to back of Chuck's neck. A personal weak spot for him that when touched rendered him something akin to a puddle of mush.

"I'm preparing. You can't just dive into it."

His eye lids became heavy and a lazy smile found a way onto his face. "That feels nice."

"Yeah?" she asked. His eyes proportionateley got larger as her face got closer. "Wait, now? I thought–"

"Shut up, Chuck."

And before he knew it he was kissing her. Her lips, her hair between his fingers, her neck- all felt exactly the same. Exactly the way they'd felt the first time he'd kissed her. And before now the only time. He was brought back to that moment months ago when she had finally let her guard down and let him know how she really felt about him through that kiss. As his lips parted and closed everything started flooding back to him. The helipad- the one memory he'd been pushing to the back of his mind- was now at the forefront of it. She'd basically declared her love for him right then and there. And why wouldn't she? He was an amazing kisser. This was also at the forefront of his mind as his tongue explored hers. And she wasn't too bad herself. She had sweet lips. The sweetest-tasting lips he'd ever tasted. They were like some sort of... tropical fruit that was... particularly sweet. Yes, tropical sweet fruit, which he was having the time of his life devouring.

"Chuck?" she said breathlessly as he moved on to her neck. Chuck moaned in response. "I think they get the picture," she whispered.

He opened his eyes and stared down at Sarah. Stared down at her because he found that he was, somehow, laying on top of her. He sat up quickly and Sarah followed suit, patting down her hair.

"Hey guys?" Ellie called from behind them. "I think Devon and I are going to go."

Chuck looked at Sarah apologetically. He had to get a hold of himself.


	3. Chapter 3

"Well you've got Jack, who's a doctor- so that automatically gets the ladies going- and also he's got a really impressive hairline for someone who's pushing 40 and you know how important that is to me. But then on the other hand you've got Lee, who's got guns the size of my head _and _he's a viper pilot slash lawyer slash president of space, right? So how do I choose? It _has _to come down to only one thing: the last names. Is anyone really going to pick _Shepard _over _Adama_? No. Obviously. The thing is though, they both really cry a lot so I'd probably go with Starbuck."

Not that Chuck wasn't enjoying Morgan's fascinating discourse on who he'd like to be when he grew up but that was certainly not the reason he'd opted for tonight's double date. It was actually a strategic move on Chuck's part, with the sole and selfish motive of getting Sarah to act like his girlfriend again.

Because Sarah the undercover CIA agent living in his house was fun to look at, sure, but Sarah the pretend girlfriend was fun to touch. And if he was going to put up with this charade the least he could get to do was touch.

The kiss they'd shared was only possible because it had been witnessed. And as pathetic as it sounded, after getting a taste of that sort of affection Chuck was beginning to crave it. Even if it was fake on Sarah's part, though part of him suspected it wasn't. In fact, something told him that Sarah liked the excuse of the cover– that under the veiled presumption of maintaining appearances it was the only time she could show her true feelings. So tonight, thanks to the mere presence of Morgan and Anna, Chuck and Sarah would finally get to _touch . _The only hitch in the plan was that Morgan and Anna had picked the Olive Garden as the setting of choice, which pretty much eliminated all possibility of hand holding, hugging, or kissing, unless they wanted to make a very awkward attempt at it over the table.

Chuck tried to imagine a situation in which he could caress her shoulder, or even just put his hand over hers. But it was Sarah who usually initiated these things and at the moment her hands were busy with forks and knives.

"Isn't that interesting, Sarah!" Chuck said. "Starbuck!"

Sarah could not look more confused if she tried. Turning toward Morgan she said, "Uh, I like their coffee. Did you mean you want to _work _at Starbucks when you grow up?"

Anna rolled her eyes with a skilled mix of amusement and condescension while Morgan simply looked crestfallen.

"No, no! _Starbuck_! The most badass, undead viper pilot on the Galactica!" he whined. "Chuck, tell me you introduced her to BSG!"

"Must've forgotten," Chuck mumbled.

Of course, this started Morgan on a far longer lecture on the intricate details of all 4 seasons of the show. Sarah seemed to put in a real effort to listen but quickly lost interest as Morgan got into all 12 Cylon models and their individual existential belief systems. Chuck felt more than a little pathetic as he watched her absently stab the food on her plate. She only seemed to come to life when her cell phone vibrated. As Morgan continued to drone on Chuck watched her out of the corner of his eye, unable to decipher the expression on her face as she looked at the caller ID. Whether it was surprise or concern he couldn't tell-- either way he could barely mask his own curiosity. Excusing herself from the table she answered the phone only after she was out of ear shot.

Chuck watched her go but then spun his head toward Morgan. "Battlestar Galactica? Really, Morgan?! You couldn't think of a better conversation killer?"

"What?" Morgan asked, chomping down on a bread stick. "It's not my fault your girlfriend's not much of a pop culture vulture. Unlike Anna here." He turned to her and commenced to hungrily run his hands up and down Anna's shoulders, thighs, and pretty much every other part of her body- a feat considering all the bread sticks he was holding. Chuck felt an uncomfortable twinge of jealousy watching Morgan do with his girlfriend what he could not with his own.

Sarah returned to the table a moment later. "Everything ok?" Chuck asked.

"Everything's fine," she said, a perfectly perky smile on his lips that Chuck could instantly see was for the benefit of Anna and Morgan, and, sadly, even himself. He lamely mimicked her smile and continued playing with the food on his plate.

"Now, back to the conversation at hand," Morgan went on.

--

"Well that was fun," Chuck said just as soon as Morgan got out of the Nerd Herder. They'd dropped Anna off earlier and were now on their way back home, full and exhausted from a night of soup, salads, and Starbuck.

"Yeah, I had a great time," Sarah sighed.

"Pleasant company, good conversation."

"So good."

"Remind me never again to agree to another double date with Morgan and Anna."

"Will do," Sarah giggled. In her tired state she shifted in her seat, pulling her legs up under her and reclining on her side, her head leaning towards-- but not quite reaching-- Chuck's shoulder. She had been quiet for most of the car ride home, and in fact, since getting that phone call, but now it was nice to hear her laugh. They drove in silence for a while, nothing but the muffled sound of the street rolling beneath them and the night breeze coming through the open windows.

"Chuck?"

"Mhmm?"

"There's somewhere I need to be tomorrow."

He wasn't expecting that. "But I'll only be gone for a few hours," she continued, "I'll be back tomorrow night."

"Where are you going?"

Simply, she said, "I can't tell you."

He turned his head toward her for a brief instant, more upset than incredulous. He had hoped that living together would mean less secrets. "Is this about that phone call you got tonight? At dinner?"

Glancing at her she looked as if she was debating whether or not to tell him and finally settled on, "Yes."

"You really can't tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Chuck."

The small space that separated them felt bigger.

--

Chuck knew that his day would probably be better spent working on a broken computer and filling his mind with thoughts of faulty power supply and RAM rather than of Sarah. But here he was, assigning all the computer jobs to Jeff and Lester and sitting inside the Nerd Herd kiosk wondering where she was and what she was doing, and most importantly why she couldn't tell him. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice when Casey walked up beside him.

"Don't look so miserable, Bartowski," he said, waking Chuck from his reverie. "Or have you already had your fill of sharing a bathroom with the CIA? It's only been a few weeks." Chuck scowled. "Must be exactly like living with a real girlfriend. 'Cept for all the sex you're not having."

"Did you want something, Casey?"

"Just telling you to cheer up. Who knows what all this melodramatic brooding is doing to the intersect." He lightly tapped Chuck's right temple, something like an angry smile forming on his lips. "Your girlfriend'll be back by tonight. Then you can go back to playing house."

"So you know she's out of town?"

"Of course I do," he said in his monotone growl. "Sometimes we've got to come into contact with people who don't have computers in their brains, Chuck. Visit the home base, let them know we're alive. Otherwise they start asking too many questions."

He had suspected it wasn't some CIA related thing and now the phone call and the reluctance to talk began making more sense. "Sarah went home?" he asked.

Casey shrugged either unwilling or just too uninterested to say anything more. "Just make sure not to flash," he said before walking away.

--

Coming home that night he found her car parked outside. Inside, the door to her bedroom was locked. He stood before it and just before he was about to knock, like always, she knew he was standing there. "Chuck, I..."

He waited for her to continue but after a moment he realized she wasn't going to. "How was the trip?" he called. He settled on asking that question because it was safe enough, something she could answer. But after a moment he asked the question he really wanted to ask. The one that had been gnawing at him the entire day. "Is everything ok?"

The voice at the other end of the door came low and even. "I'm fine," she said.

He felt ridiculous staring at her door, useless to do anything, like he was being barred from caring. But he wasn't going to let her keep him at arms length. It didn't take a genius to know that if she was actually fine she wouldn't have locked herself in her room. "Can you open the door, please?"

He waited, tentatively, until he finally heard her footsteps after what seemed like an excruciatingly long while.

When she opened the door her face was expertly emotionless, if somewhat a little ticked off. But before she could even say anything he stopped her. "Can I come in?"

She stepped aside and he made his way through the open luggage and piles of clothes on the floor. "Chuck," she began, sitting at the edge of the bed, "there are some things I can't tell you. I know you want to know where I was, but you don't need to know so–"

"I don't want to know where you were," he cut her off, sitting down beside her. "I mean, I do, but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Look, whatever's going on...it's something. Something big enough to get you to go home which is, from what I can tell, something you haven't done in a long time. So if you want to talk about it then I'm here. And if you don't well... I'll still be here."

"You know I went home?"

"Casey sorta helped me figure that one out."

Sarah nodded, smirking, but didn't say anything else. And although Chuck hoped she'd tell him something, anything that would hint at what was going through her mind, he realized that perhaps she was taking advantage of the latter part of his offer. "Right, well," he began.

"The person who called during dinner," she said suddenly, "was my brother-in-law."

He turned his head towards her, his eyebrows arching over earnest eyes. "You have a brother-in-law," he said, a little too overtly amazed at this small detail of her life.

"Yeah. And I've also got a nephew now too," she said. "Which was why he called."

"Wow. Ok, that's bigger than having a brother-in-law."

She kneeled onto the floor, retrieved her camera one of the open bags and resumed her place beside Chuck. Clicking through the photos she found the one she was looking for and showed him the screen. "That's him," she said of the sleeping baby. "Born last night. His name is Nicolas."

Chuck smiled. "He's a cute kid," he said. Watching her face as she viewed the photo he could see her smile but there was no mistaking the sadness in her eyes. "This is happy news, right?"

She nodded. "It's just, it'll probably be a long time till I see him again," she said, trying to shrug off the importance of just what that meant to her. "My line of work doesn't exactly allow too much time for family."

She'd never talked about her family before and he'd never even stopped to think of whether she missed them or not. Though her taking to Ellie and Awesome made more sense now.

"You can borrow my family," he said. "Any time you want. I can't guarantee that my brother-in-law is any better than yours but his name _is _Awesome_._"

She laughed. "Thanks Chuck."

And without any witnesses around Sarah let her head rest on Chuck's shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

They walked through the door but neither of them reached for the light switch. There would be no lengthy discussions. Both were too exhausted.

"So what's our story?" Chuck asked.

Sarah turned to look at him, assessing the damaged through barely hidden contempt. "Just tell everyone you almost broke your neck playing a video game. I'm sure they'll believe you."

"Heh," he laughed weakly. "I'll say things got a bit out of hand sumo wrestling on my Wii."

She ignored him and went straight for her room. "Goodnight," he said. Her door slammed in response.

In his room the only thing Chuck had enough strength to do was slip out of his jeans. He was on pain meds but he still felt some things he wished he didn't. His fingers found the gauze that covered the area above his right eyebrow. There was a pounding there. And his body. Well, his body sort of felt like a punch bag. That'd been sparred with for the last month straight. By Capt' Awesome.

He stood in his boxers and tshirt, the moonlight coming through the blinds casting a blue tone on the contents of his otherwise dark room. He made his way to the foot of the bed and plopped down onto the edge of it, a loud groan escaping his lips in time with the sound of Sarah flinging open his door.

"What you did tonight was really stupid, Chuck!"

"Oh hey, Sarah," he muttered. He was expecting this outburst.

"Remember that time I said you were a hero?" She exclaimed to his back. "Well I take it back! You're not a hero! I don't want to see you ever acting like a hero again!"

"Not a hero. Got it."

"My job is to protect you, Chuck! It is not to sit in the ER for half the night waiting for a doctor to tell me you're lucky you're not in a body cast!" She waited for him to interject with one of his comments but he didn't. "Well?" she said from her place at the door. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"I can't move my neck."

The tension on Sarah's face instantly morphed into something more like concern. She climbed onto the bed, kneeling behind him and lightly touching the back of his neck with both her hands.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his eyes the only thing moving from the neck up.

"Just try to relax," she said, much more calm now than she was a moment ago. "I'm going to give you a massage."

Under any other circumstance a massage from Sarah would've been maybe the hottest thing ever but all Chuck could think about was the potential for more pain- especially given her mood.

"Um, Thanks Sarah, but I'm going to have to pass on that," he stammered hastily. "Look, hey, I could just lay down like this and–" he awkwardly try to lay his body down (stifling the moans trying to escape his lips) but Sarah's hands wouldn't let him pass.

"It's ok," she assured him. "I'm good at this."

He couldn't move. There was literally nothing he could do but yield. He braced himself for any sharp pains, but Sarah's hands were gentle. Her fingers kneaded the back of his neck with an expert touch that made his eyelids flutter more than once.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, his eyes looking up in anticipation of how she would respond.

For a moment she only continued to massage his neck. Finally, just as softly as he'd spoken, she said, "You could've gotten yourself killed."

"It was just a fall," he said. "Or, well, more like a miscalculated jump on my part. But Casey apprehended the bad guy in the end, right? And it was just, what, two stories? Not a broken bone."

"You didn't--" she sighed and let her hands fall from his neck as she sat on the back of her legs. "You didn't see it from my perspective." Her forehead touched his back, and he only knew it was her forehead by the way he could feel her breath tickling the fabric of his tshirt. "The way you landed– the way you were just laying there. I thought you were dead."

Her forehead only lightly rested on his upper back but he could feel the entire weight of what she was feeling in just that one spot.

And then he heard a shaky intake of breath, a sniff. A sniff that was meant to hold back a tear, he was certain. It filled his heart. "Hey," he said. He tried turning towards her but Sarah's Amazing Neck Massage wasn't exactly the cure-all he was hoping it would be. Trying to reach his hand behind him was only proving awkward. "Can you, uh, can you come here for a sec?" he asked.

She sat beside him, which didn't help much since he still couldn't look at her. But he carefully slipped off the bed and knelt on the floor, walking on his knees to stand in front of her. With her sitting on the bed and him standing on his knees he was face to face with her. "Are you crying?"

"Chuck, get up."

"I really can't," he groaned, clenching his jaw. "I think I may need one of those neck brace things."

In the soft blue light he could see her brows knitting together. Her hand came to rest on the side of his neck, supporting him.

"I wasn't crying," she assured him. Her glassy eyes said otherwise.

"It's ok. I know you care," he said nonchalantly. And he knew she did. It was just so much easier for him to say it than it was for her. So he did. And then he added, a little less confidently, "Even if it's just in a CIA handler kind of way. I know you care."

"Of_ course_ I care about you," she whispered. "And not just as your handler." She looked hurt at what he was implying. "I've always..." instead of finishing her sentence she simply said, obviously, naturally, "Chuck."

She placed her lips on his, lingering on his bottom lip, bruised and scraped to match his cheekbone above. She kissed him with a simplicity reserved for two people who had been doing this for years. He closed his eyes and let her. He couldn't do anything but yield.

She pulled back and it took him an extra moment to open his eyes, savoring even the memory of her kiss. Though he was glad when he did open his eyes; the way she was looking at him felt even more intimate than the kiss they'd just shared. "Of course I care," she repeated.

He would've nodded if he could. "I know." He knew he was pushing his luck but he didn't care. "Sarah?" he said. "Kiss me again?"

She smiled despite herself. She kissed him again, her other hand coming to his neck too, its fingertips losing themselves in the hair at the back of his neck. Every time she pulled back she seemed to be doing so as much to see if he was ok as to see if he was liking it. A small thrill ran through her at the site of his face, totally contented. "Ow," he said, smiling like he couldn't believe his good fortune.

"You ok?"

"Never better."

She kissed him again.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Sorry I havent updated in a while. I was on vacation and then I just got lazy. Hope this chap makes up for the wait. Unlike the previous chapters, this one follows the chap directly._ _Also, thanks to Kev for the idea. :) _

In all the time he'd been living with her Chuck only now became aware of the fact that Sarah slept on her stomach.

A simple detail but thrilling and maddening all the same. Having the luck to wake up first he intended to indulge himself; watch her sleep. But, of course, it would be just his luck that this morning her back faced him. He would've liked to see her face– catch her eyelids move if they did, fascinate in the way her eyelashes dusted the tops of her cheeks. But, as it was, half her face was under a pillow anyway. Just as in life she was, from the looks of it, messy in her sleep too.

Her hair was perfectly bed-heady and splayed all about her head. While one arm lay trapped under her weight the other extended across the bed so that the wrist bent over the edge like a flaccid plank. Her legs were hidden under his blanket but as his eyes roved southward Chuck realized, for the first time, that one of her ankles was crossed with his. And the feeling– the full weight of it– hit him suddenly and delighted him. The realization of everything that had taken place in the wee hours of the night (more than just the kissing– what it all meant) was all perfectly signified in the way her leg was entwined with his.

Her ankle felt– if he could borrow the Captain's word for a moment– awesome. It was soft. So soft. And also bony, of course, duh, it was an ankle. And how he loved that ankle. He loved it's paradoxical soft and bony state of being. He cocked his head, trying to remember all the ways he'd seen said ankle. There was the time she'd worn those ballerina slippers for a mission when they'd had– he stopped the memory as soon as he realized he'd successfully craned his neck without any pain at all. This was going to be a good day, he decided. He edged closer to Sarah, wanting to start that day as soon as possible but was stopped by a new pain, this time in his lower back.

"_Grawwghhwhatthe_–"

"Chuck?" She lifted her head with a start, inhaling deeply through her nostrils as her eyes quickly adjusted to the morning light.

"G'morning," he breathed, trying to sound cheery but falling somewhere between prepubescent and constipated. Not a good start to the day.

"Is everything ok? How's your neck?"

"My neck? My neck's just fine. My back on the other hand...my back is... what the hell was I _thinking _last night?"

Sarah immediately assumed her place as protector, carefully leaning over him trying to check for physical signs of damage at the spot at the base of his spine where his fingers were rubbing. As she scanned his face Chuck could see the change in her eyes; from all business agent to simply concerned Sarah. A hint of a frown formed on her lips.

Indeed, the tender blotches of red that were marking his cheekbone and jaw the night before had already morphed into garish purple-and-yellow bruises. A perfect picture of the bad fall, the pain. She touched his cheek.

"But I'm still pretty, right?"

Sarah smiled. "Try not to move too much," she said. "I'm going to go call in sick. For the both of us."

But before she had a chance to move they both heard a loud, frantic banging on the window. Morgan's mouth fell agape as he watched the scene from behind the glass, flinging open the Morgan Door and stepping inside in one fell swoop.

"What have you done to him!" he demanded with an accusatory finger pointed at Sarah.

"Relax, Morgan!"

"What?" Sarah snapped. "You honestly think I did that to him?"

"Oh don't look at me like that," Morgan snapped right back. "What are you, like 6'5!? You're an Amazon woman! You're She-Ra! I knew Chuck couldn't keep up with you. And what do you do? Poor little, fragile Chuck. Look how skinny he is! He can't take you in a fight to the death! He probably can't even take you in a thumb war! Man, _look _at the size of those _bruises_!"

"It's not as bad as it looks," Chuck assured him. "And while I agree that Sarah could very easily take me down I promise you this was no fault of hers." Looking at Sarah with a faux frightened glare he added, "I didn't make the eggs right and walked into a door, that's all."

Sarah simply rolled her eyes as Chuck chuckled to himself. "I fell, Morgan," he explained seriously. Placing a hand on Sarah's knee, "Sarah's been taking care of me."

"Oh," Morgan said. "Sorry about accusing you before. I was only sort of kidding."

She pressed a tight smile to her lips. "I'm going to make some breakfast."

"Pancakes?" Morgan asked.

If Chuck was going to take the day off, Morgan saw no reason for him to go to work either so when Casey walked through the door he found Chuck and Morgan on the couch, furiously clicking away on their respective joysticks.

"I take it you didn't go to work either," Sarah said, closing the door behind him.

"Keeping eyes on Bartowski is my work," he grunted.

"Well it took you long enough."

"I figured you could handle the morning routine of bathing and feeding the charge on your own, Agent Walker."

They glared at each other.

"Hi Casey!" Chuck called without taking his eyes off the TV screen. "No need to check in! Doing fine!"

"That guy is creepily obsessed with you, man," Morgan said in a low voice.

"Just wanted to see if you needed anything," Casey said. "But I see you've got Sarah and Morgan here with you. And your sister's parking her car out front so...I hope you have your story straight," he told Sarah.

"Ellie's here?" Chuck asked. "She's going to freak if she sees me."

"Oh she's already freaking," Morgan said, firing away on his controller. "I called her, let her know about your..." He gestured towards his face.

"_Why _would you do that, Morgan?"

"Duh, she's a doctor."

"Chuck!" Ellie said, blazing through the door. "What happened?!"

Casey watched Ellie approach Chuck, followed closely by Sarah. While the sister placed her hands on either side of Chuck's face, Sarah hand roamed his back, a convincing girlfriend. A lot calmer now than she was the night before.

Casey had walked into the ER's waiting room and spotted Sarah right away. She was the one clad conspicuously black from head to toe, her hair in a disheveled low bun, her right knee bouncing up and down at a ridiculous, fast pace.

He sat beside her without preamble, she barely registering that he was there. "Staite's been taken care of. Left him in NSA custody."

"Good."

That knee would not let up. "I take it there's no word on Bartowski."

"No," she said. "They didn't tell me an... I'm sure he'll be fine. He's going to be fine."

Her knee moved up and down incessantly, and when she leaned her forearm on it it began to shake as well.

"So long as his head didn't get too banged up. Let's hope the intersect is intact."

She fixed loose hair behind one ear, nodding without hearing a thing. The knee shivering like it was diseased, making him dizzy. Casey gripped it with his hand and Sarah turned to him. "Calm down, Agent," he said slowly, firmly. "It was a fall. Both of us have taken a lot worse."

His slow, low enunciation was almost hypnotizing, getting Sarah from unfocused and tense to an expressionless stillness. When he lifted his hand her knee remained unmoving.

It was right about then Casey realized this _thing_ that was going on, this situation with Walker and Bartowski was a problem. It was a lot more relevant now as he watched the way Sarah 's hand rub circles on Chuck's back as they stood by the couch. Absentmindedly rubbing circles as she said something in his ear. That type of messaging was completely ineffective, he knew. Just an excuse to touch. Still playing the roll of convincing girlfriend even though Ellie had gone into the bathroom to retrieve something out of the first-aid kit.


End file.
